Sarah Barton, Hayley Porter, Susanne Murphy and Rosemary Lysaght
Social enterprise has the potential to serve as a mechanism of social and economic opportunity for persons experiencing homelessness. This paper aims to identify potential…
Abstract
Purpose
Social enterprise has the potential to serve as a mechanism of social and economic opportunity for persons experiencing homelessness. This paper aims to identify potential outcomes of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) for people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or transitioning out of homelessness.
Design/methodology/approach
Searches of 14 databases were completed using keywords and subject headings pertaining to homelessness, social enterprise and employment, respectively. These searches were then combined to identify literature concerning WISEs with homeless populations. The initial search yielded 784 unique articles. Through screening, 29 articles were selected and independently coded to establish themes.
Findings
The analysis identified the potential for WISEs to contribute positively to the lives of the target population in the areas of connection to the community, employment skill building, mental health, personal agency and empowerment, relationship-building, structure and time use, financial stability and housing. There were less positive and mixed findings regarding substance use, crime/delinquency, physical health and transition to mainstream employment. Future research should further explore causal relationships between WISE approaches and strategies and their potential implications for persons emerging from homelessness.
Originality/value
Prior to this research, there have not been any recent publications that synthesize the existing body of literature to evaluate the potential outcomes of WISE participation for homeless populations. This paper lays the groundwork for future empirical studies.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine principals’ sense-making of a school–university collaboration taking an institutional perspective on organizational change. The study’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine principals’ sense-making of a school–university collaboration taking an institutional perspective on organizational change. The study’s context involves three schools in a collaboration focusing on leadership and school improvement with one university.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on findings from a qualitative case study that examined principals’ sense-making of this type of school–university collaboration. Data were collected over three years and consisted of semistructured interviews, meeting notes, field observations, field notes and document analysis. A qualitative content analysis was performed using the Atlas.ti 6.2 software tool.
Findings
The findings showed that mattering sense-making for the principals in this collaboration is related to the cultivation of collective participation and responsibility, the development of trust and improvement culture among actors, and the sense of moving towards research-based and collaborative learning-oriented practices in their schools.
Research limitations/implications
This study encountered several limitations that need to be addressed and recognized. First, the small number of cases in this multiple case study, as well as the specific social context, limits the possibilities for the generalization of the findings. Second, the study was not independently selected and the findings and analyses were linked to national and local contexts, which can be seen as a limitation and a strength. Nevertheless, this study provides in-depth information about the principals’ experiences and constructions of meaning as they helped lead a school–university collaboration in their schools. Finally, although the sample was small and not representative, the findings provided useful insights into and examples of how principals understand and interpret a school–university partnership in their schools’ improvement processes.
Originality/value
The findings provide an elaborated illustration of how intentional efforts to collaborate and develop the schools in a school–university partnership may affect the regulative, normative and cultural–cognitive aspects in schools.
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Susanne Braun, Birgit Schyns and Claudia Peus
In this final chapter, we summarize the core challenges to leadership in complex organizational systems as well as the lessons that we believe leaders can learn from the…
Abstract
In this final chapter, we summarize the core challenges to leadership in complex organizational systems as well as the lessons that we believe leaders can learn from the contributions presented in this book. Building on Complexity Leadership Theory (Uhl-Bien & Marion, 2009), we argue that high levels of complexity characterize the contexts described, and that they are unusual because they deviate from the setting of standard business organizations. Since these contexts are not often discussed in the general leadership literature, there seems to be a largely unused potential in terms of leadership learning. Specifically, in order to better contextualize leadership, scholars and practitioners need to take organizational complexity into account. With reference to the underlying structure of the book, core challenges to leadership are proposed, clustering around four main foci: sports and competition, high risk, creativity and innovation, care and community. Subsequently, we derive six lessons for leadership: adaptability, perseverance, handling paradox, leading with values, inventing the future, and sharing responsibility. We thereby hope to stimulate fruitful discussions that put leadership into context and capitalize on complexity theory as an innovative approach to leadership research and practice.
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Susanne Böse and Stefan Brauckmann-Sajkiewicz
This study aims to explore the extent to which schools principals serving disadvantaged communities in Germany are able to set appropriate goals and choose suitable measures for…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the extent to which schools principals serving disadvantaged communities in Germany are able to set appropriate goals and choose suitable measures for improving their schools according to the specific challenges they face. The authors determine whether principals are able to identify their schools' challenges or whether they merely follow “universal recipes” of the school effectiveness research paradigm regardless of their particular school context. This effectiveness-driven accountability approach requires an in-depth evaluation of the school and its stakeholders and might lead to a new attitude toward failure that sees it as an essential part of developing effective school improvement plans.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted descriptive and correlative analyses as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using longitudinal data of 164 school principals. Through cross-sectional analyses, the authors investigated the connection among challenges, goals and measures and how they correlated with (self-reported) improvements.
Findings
From a leadership perspective, priorities for school improvement should be aligned with the school-specific challenges they identify and the goals they set to address them.
Research limitations/implications
The extent to which legislation concerning individual school quality development programs can translate into feasible and effective actions is unclear. Caution should be taken when interpreting the findings of this study, as they reflect school principals' self-selected evaluation measures and therefore might be biased.
Practical implications
In future research, emphasis should be placed on school management processes, in particular, the development of strategic decision-making, structuring of target perspectives and derivation of steps in school improvement and instructional development. The authors recommend the government offer school principals appropriate and adequate training and support services to prevent them from overburdening their staff.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of processes concerning strategic leadership, as opposed to operative management, of schools by revealing context-sensitive considerations.
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Dominik Michalski, Stefanie Liebig, Eva Thomae, Susanne Singer, Andreas Hinz and Florian Then Berg
Anxiety, depression and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are commonly reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and are of great interest for therapeutic…
Abstract
Anxiety, depression and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are commonly reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and are of great interest for therapeutic approaches. Based on regional differences a quantitative assessment of these factors in comparison to the general population, and the consideration of demographic cofactors, would be useful when designing specific interventions. We adopted such an approach in a German cohort of MS patients. Anxiety, depression (HADS) and HRQoL (SF-36) were measured in 49 consecutive outpatients with MS and compared to age- and gender-adjusted control groups (n=1330 for HADS; n=5087 for SF-36) extracted from German National Health Surveys. Patients with MS showed significantly increased levels of anxiety and depression as well as decreased HRQoL with the exception of mental health; the effect sizes ranged from 0.39 (depression) to 1.06 (physical functioning). As could be expected, MS patients with relapsing-remitting clinical course had better physical functioning than patients with secondary progressive MS. There were strong relations between anxiety and depression (r=0.54; P<0.01), and between neurological impairment (EDSS) and physical functioning (r=-0.80; P<0.001) as well as depression (r=0.48; P<0.05). This investigation of MS patients confirms the prevalence and impact of anxiety, depression and most of the HRQoL dimensions in MS patients and provides evidence for the usefulness of a quantitative comparison to a region-specific general population as a starting point for therapeutic approaches.
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Susanne Knoll, Antônio Domingos Padula, Julio Otávio Jardim Barcellos, Guilherme Pumi, Shudong Zhou and Funing Zhong
The purpose of this paper is to identify Brazilian and Chinese cultural, managerial and negotiation factors that can influence the beef trade between the two countries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify Brazilian and Chinese cultural, managerial and negotiation factors that can influence the beef trade between the two countries.
Design/methodology/approach
First, a matrix based on reliable secondary sources was established created upon indicators of economic, financial, policy, administrative, cultural, demographic, knowledge, global connectedness and geographic distance between the two countries. This was combined with primary data from interviews conducted with two key stakeholders of the supply chain, namely, the Brazilian agricultural attaché to China, and the director of Apex-Brasil. The results were analysed in a qualitative descriptive manner.
Findings
Cultural and political distances between Brazil and China are the most profound origins of challenges in negotiations on both the private and public level.
Research limitations/implications
The interviews were limited in number and to the Brazilian portion of agents involved in the beef trade (diplomats and APEX representative). The low number of interviews might be a limiting factor of the investigation. However, the interviewees’ key position in the supply chain and data triangulation with secondary sources equilibrates the results’ trustworthiness.
Social implications
China and Brazil are becoming important players in the international market. Brazil has become a leader in the production and export of agricultural commodities. Brazil is the first producer or the second exporter of coffee, soybean, ethanol, poultry, sugar and beef. In 2009, China became Brazil’s top partner in trade (Xi, 2016). In 2015, Brazil exported $35.6bn to and imported $30.7bn from China. In the foreseeable future China will continue to be the most dynamic economy worldwide. This trade dynamic can be a source of opportunities for Chinese and Brazilian enterprises.
Originality/value
Information collected and conclusions drawn from the research are unique in scientific and management literature related to this specific topic, and can be of great value for stakeholders, traders and diplomats in the Sino-Brazilian trade.
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Conceptualizing development in terms of risk management has become a prominent feature of mainstream development discourse. This has led to a convergence between the rubrics of…
Abstract
Conceptualizing development in terms of risk management has become a prominent feature of mainstream development discourse. This has led to a convergence between the rubrics of financial inclusion and risk management whereby improved access for poor households to private sector credit, insurance and savings products is represented as a necessary step toward building “resilience.” This convergence, however, is notable for a shallow understanding of the production and distribution of risks. By naturalizing risk as an inevitable product of complex systems, the approach fails to interrogate how risk is produced and displaced unevenly between social groups. Ignoring the structural and relational dimensions of risk production leads to an overly technical approach to risk management that is willfully blind to the intersection of risk and social power. A case study of the promotion of index-based livestock insurance in Mongolia – held as a model for innovative risk management via financial inclusion – is used to indicate the tensions and contradictions of this projected synthesis of development and risk management.
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Susanne Braun, Claudia Peus, Dieter Frey and Kristin Knipfer
This chapter summarizes the specific challenges for leadership in academia with a focus on universities, and discusses recent approaches to facilitate the development of…
Abstract
This chapter summarizes the specific challenges for leadership in academia with a focus on universities, and discusses recent approaches to facilitate the development of leadership abilities in this context. Individuals and groups in academia essentially strive for creativity and innovation through knowledge creation and transfer. Their performance is measured relative to specified targets (e.g., quality and quantity of publications, third-party funding, teaching and student supervision). We argue that in academia constant tensions between creativity and innovation on the one hand, and structures, procedures, and (legal) regulations on the other hand persist. This poses significant challenges to leadership. The chapter starts with a short characterization of the most pressing challenges and their implications for leadership. We then distinguish between leadership of universities (i.e., administrative leadership) and leadership in universities (i.e., research leadership). Next, we depict approaches that highlight leadership as a property of individuals and as a collective phenomenon in academia. Finally, we draw lessons for leaders and organizations who seek to create enabling conditions for sustained successes in the quest for creativity and innovation.